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Rhapsody confirms 2.5 million subscribers

By | Published on Thursday 12 February 2015

Napsody

The Rhapsody company yesterday published stats for its Rhapsody and Napster branded streaming music services worldwide, with the top line figure being 2.5 million paying subscribers across the globe.

Which, given Rhapsody was one of the very early players in streaming music (years ahead of the Spotifys) and legit Napster was also relatively early to market (albeit originally as a subscription download set-up), isn’t that impressive a figure at first glance. Not when put next to newer services like Deezer (sixteen million total, six million paying) or Spotify (60 million total, fifteen million paying). Meanwhile that other early player in the US market, Pandora, boasts over 75 million users, albeit the vast majority on freemium.

But, as Mark Mulligan notes, “it nonetheless places Rhapsody as the fourth largest [streaming music] subscriber base globally and approximately 10% of the global total”. And is probably a sign that after years of treading water as new streaming-based services entered the market in the latter half of the last decade, Rhapsody is finally gaining some momentum again. And, as with those upstarts, that is mainly being achieved through alliances with tel cos and car makers.

Commenting on yesterday’s stats release, Rhapsody International CFO Ethan Rudin said: “Our decision to prioritise the mobile music experience is paying off. We’re seeing a fast-paced transition towards mobile-only listening throughout our global base of members. Over the next six months, we plan to continue to extend relationships with our wireless, auto and connected device partners to ensure we deliver experiences that make streaming music an essential part of daily life”.



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